When pay falls 75%, but the person still makes $11.9M

Yahoo CEO's pay package falls 75 pct to $11.9M - Yahoo! Finance: "Yahoo Inc. cut CEO Carol Bartz's compensation by 75 percent to $11.9 million last year as the Internet company struggled to revive its revenue growth, regulatory documents filed Friday show."

We can always Bank on Spin, if not on Banks

5 banks fail in Fla., Ga., Mich.; makes 39 in '11 - Yahoo! Finance: "Regulators on Friday shut down banks in Florida, Georgia and Michigan, a total of five closures that lifted the number of U.S. bank failures this year to 39.

The pace of closures has slowed, however, as the economy improves and banks work their way through piles of bad debt. By this time last year, regulators had closed 64 banks."

green bird sanctuary

The Hindu : Sci-Tech / Energy & Environment : Rajasthan solar experiments: bird sanctuary, dargah go green: "At the Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, a World Heritage Site, the authority is setting up plants to equip pumps and tubewells to function with solar energy.

“The ponds at the park need to be kept filled with water for birds to remain there. The tubewells and pumps used to pull water to the ponds are being turned solar,” he said."

The Oil Squeeze

Wal-Mart CEO: Shoppers feeling higher gas prices - Yahoo! Finance: "Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s CEO Mike Duke says rising gas prices are hurting its main customers, who are having an even harder time stretching their dollars to the next payday than they did a year ago.

'There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an impact on our customers,' said Mike Duke, CEO of the world's largest retailer at an event that was part of The Wall Street Journal's executive breakfast series. 'There's more pressure.'

Wal-Mart is seeing its customers consolidate shopping trips, though they're spending more on each excursion. But shoppers are also cutting back on discretionary items, such as clothing, as their spending power erodes, Duke said."

Women getting more graduate degrees

Now more women get advanced degrees than men - Yahoo! Finance: "For the first time, American women have passed men in gaining advanced college degrees as well as bachelor's degrees, part of a trend that is helping redefine who goes off to work and who stays home with the kids.

Census figures released Tuesday highlight the latest education milestone for women, who began to exceed men in college enrollment in the early 1980s. The findings come amid record shares of women in the workplace and a steady decline in stay-at-home mothers.

Among adults 25 and older, 10.6 million U.S. women have master's degrees or higher, compared to 10.5 million men. Measured by shares, about 10.2 percent of women have advanced degrees compared to 10.9 percent of men -- a gap steadily narrowing in recent years. Women still trail men in professional subcategories such as business, science and engineering.

When it comes to finishing college, roughly 20.1 million women have bachelor's degrees, compared to nearly 18.7 million men -- a gap of more than 1.4 million that has remained steady in recent years. Women first passed men in bachelor's degrees in 1996.

Some researchers including Perry have dubbed the current economic slump a "man-cession" because of the huge job losses in the male-dominated construction and manufacturing industries, which require less schooling. Measured by pay, women with full-time jobs now make 78.2 percent of what men earn, up from about 64 percent in 2000.

Unemployment for men currently stands at 9.3 percent compared to 8.3 percent for women, who now make up half of the U.S. work force. The number of stay-at-home moms, meanwhile, dropped last year for a fourth year in a row to 5 million, or roughly one in four married-couple households. That's down from nearly half of such households in 1969.

By the census' admittedly outmoded measure, the number of stay-at-home dads has remained largely flat in recent years, making up less than 1 percent of married-couple households.

Whatever the exact numbers, Census Bureau researchers have detailed a connection between women's educational attainment and declines in traditional stay-at-home parenting. For instance, they found that stay-at-home mothers today are more likely to be young, foreign-born Hispanics who lack college degrees than professional women who set aside careers for fulltime family life after giving birth.

"We're not saying the census definition of a `stay-at-home' parent is what reflects families today. We're simply tracking how many families fit that situation over time," said Rose Kreider, a family demographer at the Census Bureau. She said in an interview that the bureau's definition of a stay-at-home parent is based on a 1950s stereotype of a breadwinner-homemaker family that wasn't necessarily predominant then and isn't now.

Beth Latshaw, an assistant professor of sociology at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., notes the figures are based on a narrow definition in which the wife must be in the labor force for the entire year and the husband be outside the official labor force for the specifically cited reason of "taking care of home and family."

Her own survey found that many fathers who had primary child-care responsibility at home while working part-time or pursuing a degree viewed themselves as stay-at-home fathers. When those factors are included as well as unmarried and single dads, the share of fathers who stay at home to raise children jumps from less than 1 percent to more than 6 percent.

Put another way, roughly one of every five stay-at-home parents is a father.

The remaining share of households without stay-at-home parents -- the majority of U.S. families -- are cases where both parents work full-time while their children attend school or day care or are watched by nannies or grandparents, or where fathers work full-time while the mothers work part-time and care for children part-time.

"There's still a pervasive belief that men can't care for children as well as women can, reinforcing the father-as-breadwinner ideology," said Latshaw, whose research is being published next month in the peer-reviewed journal "Fathering." She is urging census to expand its definition to highlight the growing numbers, which she believes will encourage wider use of paternity leave and other family-friendly policies.

The new "Mr. Moms" include Todd Krater, 38, of Lakemoor, Ill., a Chicago suburb. Krater has been a self-described stay-at-home dad for the past seven years to his three sons after his wife, who earned a master's business degree, began to flourish in her career as a software specialist.

Krater said he found it difficult adjusting at first and got little support from other mothers who treated him as an outcast at school functions. He eventually started writing a blog, "A Man Among Mommies," to encourage other fathers to take a larger role in child care and says he now revels in seeing more dads at the park, library and school events.

"What was once an uncommon sight of a dad with the kids during the day is becoming more and more prevalent," said Krater, who is now studying part-time to become a registered nurse. "But many still feel the pressure of gender roles and feel if they don't make money they are somehow less of a man."

The census numbers come from the government's Current Population Survey as of March 2010. Among other findings:

--Among adults 25 and older, women are more likely than men to have finished high school, 87.6 percent to 86.6 percent.

--Broken down by race and ethnicity, 52 percent of Asian-Americans had at least a bachelor's degree. That's compared to 33 percent for non-Hispanic whites, 20 percent for blacks and 14 percent for Hispanics.

--Thirty percent of foreign-born residents in the U.S. had less than a high school diploma, compared to 10 percent of U.S.-born residents and 19 percent of naturalized citizens. At the same time, the foreign-born population was just as likely as U.S.-born residents to have at least a bachelor's degree, at roughly 30 percent.

Jeremy Adam Smith, author of the 2009 book "The Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms and Shared Parenting are Transforming the American Family," described a cultural shift as women began to surpass men in college enrollment in the 1980s. The 1983 movie, "Mr. Mom," openly broached the idea that out-of-work fathers can contribute to families as stay-at-home dads, allowing more men to be accepting of the role in subsequent recessions, he said.

"Over the long term, the numbers are just going to keep going up," Smith said."

Growth of varying magnitudes

Economic growth: Midsize companies expecting economic growth - chicagotribune.com: "While 93 percent of companies said they expected the economy to grow, only 20 percent believed that growth would be enough to support widespread job creation. Nevertheless, about 69 percent of executives said they planned to add full-time employees in 2011. A larger portion of executives (84 percent) said they expected to see productivity increase over the next year, despite levels that are already historically high. Full-time head count is lower than in 2007 by more than 10 percent for a third of the companies surveyed.

Still, many survey respondents reported improved cash balances and profits compared with a year ago, which has them planning for growth.

Eric Belcher, CEO of InnerWorkings, a public company that helps manage print procurement for large global companies, said it recently has seen clients' budgets for printed items increase over previous years.

"How much of that is due to the increasing return they are seeing on print versus overall economic performance, we aren't able to tell, but they are moving in the right direction," he said.

InnerWorkings, which reported revenue of $482 million in 2010, has hired 50 people in 2011 and expects to hire an equal number by the end of this year.

Besides organic growth from a recovering economy, executives surveyed indicated that mergers and acquisitions will be a common growth strategy over the next year, but that they would stay away from growth plans that require taking on substantial debt. One-third of executives said they will likely acquire companies this year, with almost half of those transactions involving direct U.S. competitors in an effort to expand their customer base, capture efficiencies of scale or as part of a bargain-hunting strategy.

Chicago-based security firm Trustwave acquired more than a half-dozen companies during the last few years and is one of just 8 percent of privately held midmarket companies planning an initial public offering in the coming year.

"While other companies were looking for exit opportunities, we capitalized on that," said Doug Klotnia, executive vice president of Trustwave.

The survey also found that more midsize companies are looking at opportunities overseas. Three years ago, 73 percent of retailers reported no overseas revenue, said Sonenthal. Three years from now, 45 percent expect a quarter of their revenue to come from overseas, according to the survey.

"To the extent that these companies can sell overseas and move U.S. goods overseas, I think that's a positive for us, a positive for the United States," said Sonenthal.

The eye toward global growth seems to stem mostly from a desire to replicate local successes rather than from a need to diversify, the survey found, with the largest draws China and Western Europe. The findings are significant, said Sonenthal, for a segment of the economy that historically is cautious.

"The world is flat," said John Shegerian, chairman and CEO of California-based Electronic Recyclers International. "Globalization is here. Small and new industries like ours cannot think in the historical legacy ways of being just America-centric. If you can't think globally, you shouldn't be in this business."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, midmarket executives expressed concerns over taxes and health care costs, but a surprising number — 50 percent — expressed a fear that federal, state and municipal debt woes could present the largest obstacles to economic growth.

"If someone doesn't deal with those issues quite soon, these companies are expecting major cuts, and if (governments) lay people off, that's less people to buy their goods. Either that, or higher taxes for the purpose of raising revenue," Sonenthal said."

"Patent"ly Rich...

Adobe India doles out up to 200% bonus for innovative employees - The Economic Times: "At Adobe's India centre, bonus payouts are not just linked to meeting key result areas (KRAs) or targets, but also to how innovative employees have been through the year.

This year, the company doled out bonuses up to 200%, a reflection of the firm notching up 200 patent applications to its name over the years, second only to the number of patents applied from its US office. The company has 40% of its global research and development talent in India and one of its most profitable global business units, the firm has five in total, is fully managed here.
"In India, the opportunity for us is talent arbitrage, not cost arbitrage. We choose the best people from the highest ranked colleges like the IITs and other tier I technology schools and make every effort to keep them together," says Jaleel Abdul, senior director, human resources, Adobe Asia-Pacific.

To keep the flock together, the company is paying top dollar for top-notch talent, 50-60% higher than most other tier I firms. It has promoted 30% of its engineering staff last year and ensured that employees have full ownership of products that are commercialised and are not involved with just a part of the product, as is often the case with global technology firms. which has research centres here... "

Hairy Story

Burglars steal hair from Chicago business - Yahoo! Finance: "Chicago police have a real head-scratching case on their hands as they try to root out who stole human hair from a beauty-supply company.

Police say the theft of what they consider a 'very valuable' amount of hair was taken early Sunday by burglars of the Beauty One shop.

Authorities say the culprits pried open a huge steel door that had been secured with two deadbolt locks, then swiped the hair."

Youth factor in Faculty

IIT faculty getting younger by the year - The Economic Times: "In the 1980s, anyone who walked into a packed class at the Indian Institutes of Technology was a grey-haired wise 60-year-old. Most had folded their crazy daily schedule and decided to settle on a leafy quiet campus in a job that didn't come with unachievable targets of the corporate world.

Today, the age gap between a faculty and a student is closing. Recruitment records from the IIT-Kanpur show that between 1990 and 2010, the average age of freshly recruited teachers fell from mid-50 s to early-30 s (see box).

Now, for many the life span of a corporate job has shortened dramatically. And with teaching paying handsomely, it's a path many are taking. Within a span of just three decades, the average age of the faculty body has halved.
At IIT-Delhi, said its director Surendra Prasad, ''there were 24 teachers below the age of 35 in 2005; in 2011, there are 43. In all, 123 faculty members on campus (a little more than 25%) are below 40 years.''

A typical teacher's definition has changed: he, too, is from the Tweeting and Facebooking age. At IIT-Guwahati , for one, the average age of faculty on campus is 38; it's 32 at the IIT-Madras campus.

''There has been a change in the culture on campus, just like there has been in society in general. The younger faculty are a lot more demanding of their students,'' said M S Ananth , director IIT-Madras. Close to half the recently recruited teachers from the IIT system, many of whom went abroad to pursue a PhD and came back to teach. ..."

Tumourous Growth versus Meaningful Growth

It has been argued many times in this blog that the adoption of a U.S. style model by China, India, and other Asian countries can have disastrous effects for the entire planet. It is hard, of course, to ask Asians to restrain themselves while the West keeps on splurging and depleting Nature's assets. Hence, a meaningful question needs to be asked- do we desire any growth, or do we desire meaningful growth? How can we have beneficial growth rather than an uncontrolled tumourous growth? Another writer raises the same questions...

Arguments for constrained capitalism in Asia | Madeleine Bunting | Global development | guardian.co.uk: "'It's a matter of numbers,' Nair said on a visit to London to speak at the Royal Society of Arts. 'What Europe and America does about restricting its impact on the environment is pretty irrelevant. The future will be determined by what happens in Asia. Three billion Asians want what you and I have, but there is not enough to go round. By 2050, there will be 5 billion Asians,' says Nair, who grew up in Malaysia and now lives in Hong Kong.

"If Asia continues like the west, the game is over; as people in Asia get richer, they eat further up the food chain. If 500 million Chinese want to eat just one seafood meal a week, it will empty all the seas of Asia. If Asians ate as much chicken as Americans, by 2050 that would amount to 120 billion birds a year instead of today's 16 billion. To aspire to the western model in Asia is a deadly lie.

"If China and India had the levels of car ownership evident across the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development], that would amount to 1.5bn more cars – and it would take the entire oil production of Saudi Arabia to run them," says Nair, whose bookConsumptionomics: Asia's Role in Reshaping Capitalism and Saving the Planet has just been published.

Yet this is the reality that Asians are reluctant to face. Western car manufacturers want to sell cars to Asia, and Asia wants to buy them. No Asian chief executive is prepared to talk publicly about the need for consumer constraint. Only privately, says Nair, will senior government officials and business figures agree that the arguments he makes is crucial to Asia's future – and has relevance for every part of the developing world. Could Asia offer Africa, for example, an alternative model of development?

"Governments need to tell their people that they can't have everything," says Nair. "The dream of a lifestyle commensurate with US sitcoms needs to be deconstructed immediately."..."

DoMS Up!

The Hindu : Education : Placement cheer: "At the Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), the average salary rose by 13.50 per cent to notch Rs. 9.25 lakh per annum in 2011. The percentage of companies that visited the institute increased by 32 per cent from last year. And the highest salary offered was Rs. 16.67 lakh per annum. IT consulting and operations topped the pie-chart with 47 per cent of placements followed by finance, analytics, IT systems and marketing streams contributing to another 43 per cent.

“It has been 100 per cent placements since the inception, even when the market was lull during global recession,” says Prof. C. Rajendran, Head, DOMS, IITM. “Only the package fluctuates. This year, the position was better for negotiations,” he adds."

Poor Service + Poor Employee relations = Pay raises and lifetime rewards for CEOs

United CEOs reaped rich rewards for 2010 merger - chicagotribune.com: "Airline CEO Jeff Smisek started 2010 with a vow not to receive any salary until Continental Airlines turned a profit, and ended the year with a pay raise and $4.4 million in total compensation after pulling off a merger with United Airlines.
Smisek, who is CEO of the merged carrier’s parent company, United Continental Holdings Inc., received salary of $791,250 and $3.6 million in other incentives at year's end. Directors determined that Continental would have been profitable for the year and also bumped up Smisek’s base pay following the Oct. 1 merger to $975,000, according to a proxy statement filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

But Smisek’s compensation was dwarfed, on paper, by the $16.8 million awarded to Glenn Tilton, his pre-merger counterpart at Chicago-based United Airlines.

Tilton and other senior executives reaped hefty rewards for consummating a deal that created the world’s largest carrier and contributed to an 85 percent jump in the airline’s share price. United also exceeded its targets for customer satisfaction, on-time arrivals and financial performance for the year.

In addition to his base pay of $822,999, Tilton also received $2.7 million in a discretionary bonus awarded in September, shortly before the merger closed.

Under an employment agreement, Tilton won’t be able to tap about one-third of his total compensation until he resigns as non-executive chairman of United Continental at the close of 2012, however.

Tilton agreed to convert the cash severance he was eligible to receive by stepping down as United CEO into 207,157 restricted shares, with a grant date value of $5.1 million. The shares will vest at the end of next year, or earlier if he leaves his chairman’s role due to death, disability or without “cause,” according to the SEC filing.

Three senior United executives who left the company following the merger also pocketed ample pay and severance packages.

Former United president John Tague received $11.7 million in total compensation, including a $1.6 million bonus awarded in September. Former chief financial officer Kathryn Mikells received $9.4 million, including a $1.3 million bonus; while Graham Atkinson, president of the carrier’s Mileage Plus program, walked away with $6.9 million, including an $888,376 bonus.

In addition to health and life insurance benefits, the departed United executives are also eligible for lifetime flight benefits, elite frequent-flier status and lifetime membership in the company’s airport lounge clubs, according to the SEC filing.

"

Daley turns more green

City to help cabs turn green - chicagotribune.com: "Mayor Richard Daley today announced a program to reimburse cab companies for using hybrid cars or those powered by natural gas.

The Green Taxi Program, which the mayor announced for Earth Day, uses $1 million in federal funding to pay back cab companies for making the switch.

Norma Reyes, Commissioner of the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, said the city wanted to give the companies an incentive to invest in more environmentally friendly cars.

'The City of Chicago is committed to supporting these efforts and providing financial and operational incentives to offset the higher initial cost price of these vehicles,' Reyes said.

Companies will be reimbursed $2,000 for buying hybrids, and between $9,000 and $14,000 for converting cars to compressed natural gas or propane power. Electric vehicles do not qualify under this program."

Students graduate, but loans stay on...

Student loans: More college graduates are delinquent on repaying student loans - chicagotribune.com: "The study conducted by the nonprofit Institute of Higher Education Policy sheds light on a segment of the borrowing population that is usually ignored — and it is a large portion. Among all students borrowing to pay for their education, 1 in 4 is having trouble making full monthly payments, the study said.

'We talk endlessly about default rates and what that means for colleges, but not about delinquency,' said Alisa Cunningham, coauthor of the report. 'It's a really big problem, and I'm not sure that anybody really knew the extent of it.'

Borrowers are delinquent when they are behind on payments, which can affect their ability to get a good rate on any future loan, including auto loans and mortgages, and will affect their credit reports.

...

The number of college graduates with debt increased from less than half in 1993 to two-thirds in 2008, according to the Education Department. And the average debt is going up sharply — to $23,200 in 2008 from $18,650 four years earlier.

If they don't catch up with payments, usually after nine months for federal loans, delinquent borrowers default. That makes them ineligible for new loans or grants, and the government can seize their tax refunds, garnish their wages, withhold public benefits such as Social Security or charge significant collection fees.

The study found that 26% of nearly 1.8 million borrowers surveyed had been delinquent on their loans but hadn't defaulted. In addition, 15% of borrowers had defaulted.

Cunningham said lack of knowledge might be a factor in why so many student loan borrowers experience delinquency at some point.

"I was surprised at the fact that a lot of these borrowers actually had never heard of things like forbearance or deference — especially since they're supposed to go through an educational process during college," Cunningham said, naming two methods for legally postponing payments.

Part of the task of educating borrowers falls to guaranty agencies. These are groups that once insured student loans, but now focus on education and advocacy. They also work to collect on and rehabilitate defaulted loans.

"Many borrowers end up becoming delinquent or defaulting because they don't know all of the options available to them," said Debra Chromy, vice president of government services at nonprofit guaranty agency American Student Assistance.

"

Michigan- on the cutting edge

Mich. Senate panel approves cuts to universities - Yahoo! Finance: "Republicans who lead the Michigan Senate appear to be counting on public universities to limit tuition increases next year.

The GOP-led Senate Appropriations Committee approved a bill Thursday along party lines that would reduce state aid to individual universities by 15 percent for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. The cut is the same as proposed by Republican Gov Rick Snyder.

But the Senate plan does not include a clause proposed by Snyder that would bring even deeper state aid cuts -- roughly 22 percent -- to universities that don't limit tuition increases to 7.1 percent or less. The proposal now headed to the Senate floor would cap the state aid reduction at 15 percent."

As long as the education system is corrupt, the recovery is not in sight

The for-profit colleges, aided by their congressional lobbying, do not want to be regulated. However, these crooked institutions want to get their share of the "federal" aid to students. Why should "for-profit" companies squeeze out government largesse, while at the same time campaigning for debt reduction and service reduction to the poor and suffering? If the government is going to cut financial aid, what is left should go to the not-for-profit institutions, rather than these corrupt institutions and corrupt leaders and shareholders.

For-profit colleges adopt conduct code - Yahoo! Finance: "The Coalition for Educational Success, a Washington, D.C.-based group that represents career colleges serving 350,000 students at nearly 500 campuses, announced the Standards of Responsible Conduct, but won't release the complete code until this summer. The industry group said it will cover areas ranging from standard disclosures of tuition costs and job placement rates to more transparent financial aid policies.

Managing director Penny Lee said the standards will provide a "new level of accountability."

"We know concerns have been raised and we take them very seriously," she said. "This is a significant step for the sector."

The announcement comes as another industry group battles the U.S. Department of Education in federal court in a bid to block new regulations of for-profit higher education institutions. The industry has lobbied heavily in Washington against a proposed "gainful employment" rule that could limit schools' access to federal financial aid if graduates' debt levels are too high or too few students repay loans.

Also, Lee's coalition sued the federal General Accounting Office in February over a scathing GAO report that relied on undercover investigators posing as prospective students who found fraud at four schools and deceptive marketing practices at each of the 15 schools scrutinized.

Industry critics reacted with skepticism to the announcement.

"We're glad that the Coalition for Educational Success now seems to admit it has a problem," said David Halperin, executive director of Campus Progress, an offshoot of the Center for American Progress. "It would have been better if CES had proposed reforming itself before its back was to the wall."

The coalition's code will be overseen by Republican Thomas Kean, former New Jersey governor and Drew University president, and Democrat Ed Rendell, former Pennsylvania governor. Halperin noted that Kean, who was also chairman of the federal 9/11 Commission, is a partner at an investment firm with a financial stake in privately held education companies."

Dark Skies at Amazon

Amazon Cloud Failure Takes Down Web Sites - NYTimes.com: "A major, widespread failure in Amazon’s Web services business took down many Web sites Thursday.

The problems, which began early Thursday morning and had not been completely repaired by late afternoon, affected many Web sites including Quora, Reddit, GroupMe, Scvngr and HootSuite, which all posted messages to their visitors about the issue.

The Web companies use Amazon’s cloud-based Web services to host Web sites, applications, files and other resources. Amazon’s customers range from start-ups like Foursquare to big companies like Pfizer and Nasdaq.

Amazon lets these companies rent space on its servers and take advantage of its big data centers and computing power. But this means that when Amazon’s servers fail, the companies have little control over the situation, highlighting the risks of relying on so-called cloud computing.

The problem also affected some functions of the Web site of The New York Times, including readers’ ability to comment on articles and blog posts.

Amazon did not respond to requests for comment, but the company isupdating the status of its Web services and confirmed the service disruptions. It said it did not know when the services would be restored.

“Our high-level ballpark right now is that the E.T.A. is a few hours,” Amazon wrote at 2:09 p.m. Eastern time. “We can assure you that all hands are on deck to recover as quickly as possible. We will update the community as we have more information.”"

Getting to the bottom of Innovation - in toilets

Going in style: Kohler luxury toilet costs $6,390 - Yahoo! Finance: "Toilet aficionados need look no further: A Wisconsin company is promising 'a figment of beauty and geometry' complete with piano music, feet warmers and a heated seat -- if you're willing to flush out nearly $6,400.

Kohler Co. is preparing to release its new high-end Numi toilet, which was four years in the making and offers a slew of comfort amenities. The company describes its latest throne as 'the ultimate flushing experience.'

Fighting about who left the seat up? Not anymore. The Numi automatically closes and raises the adjustable-height toilet cover when it senses your presence. If you'd like, it can greet you with the sound of rushing water and soothing piano music.

Too dark in the bathroom? Also not a problem. A night light in the bidet guides you to the heated seat. And if your feet are cold, a floor-level vent blows warm air to keep your toes toasty.

If you might be a while and forget the newspaper sports page, fear not: plug in your iPod or turn on the built-in FM radio. Then a charcoal-filter deodorizer will keep the air fresh, and the bidet offers an array of options for temperature, water pressure and even spray pattern.

Depending on how long you've been sitting, the Numi will flush with a 0.6-gallon or 1.28-gallon flow. Between jobs it bombards bacteria with a 45-minute dose of germ-killing ultraviolet light.

The Numi costs $6,390 plus installation and will be available in the fall in the U.S. and Asia.

"It is our most advanced toilet," product manager Mike Marbach told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "At Kohler Co., we are always trying to be on the leading edge, and this product is really a blend of leading-edge technology and leading-edge design, and not sacrificing one for the other."

Marbach said toilets with bidets are more widely embraced in Asia, "but it's definitely a trend we see in the U.S. that's growing," he said..."

Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically - Yahoo! Finance

Super rich see federal taxes drop dramatically - Yahoo! Finance: "s millions of procrastinators scramble to meet Monday's tax filing deadline, ponder this: The super rich pay a lot less taxes than they did a couple of decades ago, and nearly half of U.S. households pay no income taxes at all.

The Internal Revenue Service tracks the tax returns with the 400 highest adjusted gross incomes each year. The average income on those returns in 2007, the latest year for IRS data, was nearly $345 million. Their average federal income tax rate was 17 percent, down from 26 percent in 1992.

Over the same period, the average federal income tax rate for all taxpayers declined to 9.3 percent from 9.9 percent.

The top income tax rate is 35 percent, so how can people who make so much pay so little in taxes? The nation's tax laws are packed with breaks for people at every income level. There are breaks for having children, paying a mortgage, going to college, and even for paying other taxes. Plus, the top rate on capital gains is only 15 percent.

There are so many breaks that 45 percent of U.S. households will pay no federal income tax for 2010, according to estimates by the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.

"It's the fact that we are using the tax code both to collect revenue, which is its primary purpose, and to deliver these spending benefits that we run into the situation where so many people are paying no taxes," said Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the center, which generated the estimate of people who pay no income taxes.

The sheer volume of credits, deductions and exemptions has both Democrats and Republicans calling for tax laws to be overhauled. House Republicans want to eliminate breaks to pay for lower overall rates, reducing the top tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. Republicans oppose raising taxes, but they argue that a more efficient tax code would increase economic activity, generating additional tax revenue."

Stating the Hard Truth the Truthful Way

Irish banking collapse caused by greed and complicit public – report | Business | The Guardian: "Bankers taking risks on a 'almost unbelievable' scale, a complicit public willing to 'let the good times roll' and a lack of regulation combined to cause the collapse of the Irish banking system, a government-commissioned report concludes.

A nine-month inquiry by Finnish finance expert Peter Nyberg published is scathing about the banks which, he says, lost control, but also contains criticism of Irish society in general and institutions including the civil service and regulatory authorities.

Nyberg, a former International Monetary Fund economist, says that no one in the banks appreciated the risks being run and, that although global events did not help, the main reason for the Irish banking collapse was 'the unhindered expansion of the property bubble financed by banks using wholesale market funding'.

"It appears now, with hindsight, to be almost unbelievable that intelligent professionals appear not have been aware of the size of the risk they were taking," as they piled money into property pipedreams with little regard for risk analysis or even loan documentation, he says in the 156-page report commissioned by former finance minister Brian Lenihan.

There was, he says, an "inability and unwillingness to remember basic principles of banking" that providing credit is not a sale, "it is the acquisition of a risky asset".The public was also complicit, he says, because "large parts of Irish society were willing to let the good times roll"...."

Sweet Smell of Boston Marathon...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/19/sports/19marathon.html?src=ISMR_HP_LO_MST_FB

With a brisk wind at his back and a determined countryman on his shoulder to push him down the stretch, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya pulled away from Moses Mosop in the final quarter-mile Monday to win the 115th Boston Marathon. His time, 2 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds, was the fastest marathon run by nearly a minute, and it smashed the course record, set last year, by nearly three minutes.

People for Hire

Big U.S. Firms Shift Hiring Abroad - WSJ.com: "U.S. multinational corporations, the big brand-name companies that employ a fifth of all American workers, have been hiring abroad while cutting back at home, sharpening the debate over globalization's effect on the U.S. economy.

The companies cut their work forces in the U.S. by 2.9 million during the 2000s while increasing employment overseas by 2.4 million, new data from the U.S. Commerce Department show. That's a big switch from the 1990s, when they added jobs everywhere: 4.4 million in the U.S. and 2.7 million abroad."

Answer: When Wall Street, Government, and Justice are synonymous

NYT: In financial crisis, no major prosecutions - Business - U.S. business - The New York Times - msnbc.com: "It is a question asked repeatedly across America: why, in the aftermath of a financial mess that generated hundreds of billions in losses, have no high-profile participants in the disaster been prosecuted?"

A good guide for ethical living

It's not easy being green | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "It's not easy being green"

'Deadly' Exports

Britain bans exports of execution drugs to US - Yahoo! Finance: "Britain said Thursday it will block the export of three lethal injection drugs to the United States and is also urging a Europe-wide ban on American sales of the drugs.

Business Secretary Vince Cable said that a block on exports of pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride would be formalized in a few days. In November, Britain blocked exports of the sedative sodium thiopental for use in executions following a legal challenge from a human rights group.

"We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances and are clear that British drugs should not be used to carry out lethal injections," Cable said. "Because of the importance and urgency of the situation this is an issue on which we felt we had to take the lead."..."

US death row injection comes from Mumbai firm - Times Of India: "Kayem Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, at Marian Colony, shipped a 500-gram consignment of the yellow powder, packed in a hefty 25-kg strongbox, on December 8, 2010, to the Nebraska department of correctional services. Sodium thiopental is generally used along with pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride to create a cocktail with which several states in the US carry out the death sentence by lethal injection. In February this year, Kayem sold another consignment to the South Dakota department of corrections. Executions are yet to be carried out by Nebraska or South Dakota with the drug purchased from Kayem."

CIA story - China, India and Australia

Aust. banker: China, India changing world economy - Yahoo! Finance: "The world economy's center of gravity is shifting rapidly to Asia, which will soon rival Wall Street as a source of routine market signals, Australia's central bank chief said Thursday.

Stevens also said that finding solutions to imbalances in the global economy is being hampered by focusing too much on the United States' trade deficit with China.

Stevens, whose nation was one of few developed economies to escape recession during the global financial crisis thanks largely to Chinese demand for Australian minerals, is a close observer of China's emergence as an economic power.

'The rise of China, and very likely India, is a transformative event for the global economy,' the Reserve Bank of Australia governor said."

The Dirt that Surf 'n Tide do not remove...

Unilever and Procter & Gamble fined £280m for price fixing | Business | The Guardian: "Unilever and Procter & Gamble have been hit with fines totalling €315.2m (£281m) for fixing the price of washing powder in eight European countries.

The European Commission imposed the penalties on Wednesday after finding that the consumer goods groups had colluded over prices for more than three years. P&G must hand over €211.2m, while Unilever will pay €104m. Both fines were reduced because the companies co-operated with the investigation and agreed to settle.

The price-fixing cartel began in January 2002, according to the commission, when P&G and Unilever, along with Germany's Henkel, held talks over plans to implement an industry-wide programme to improve the environmental performance of detergents. The companies agreed to shrink the amount of packaging they used but to keep prices unchanged, and later to collectively raise prices. The arrangement lasted until March 2005 and involved products sold in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.

"The cartel lasted some three years and aimed at stabilising market positions and at coordinating prices in violation of EU and EEA antitrust rules," said the commission as it announced the fines...."

Cisco Flip-Flips- "Sound Reasoning" lasts two years

The Halo Effect in Full Force- thanks to the Business World's Love for Cisco...

First, the high praise...

How Cisco's CEO John Chambers Is Turning the Tech Giant Socialist: "...Cisco, Chambers argues, is the best possible model for how a large, global business can operate: as a distributed idea engine where leadership emerges organically, unfettered by a central command. Chambers and his team have been sharing detailed case studies of their experiences and best practices with the likes of AT&T, General Electric, and Procter & Gamble, and with customers in emerging markets from Russia and China to Mexico and Brazil. 'We did it first ourselves; now we teach our customers. And the neat thing about it is that they'll use our technology to do it.'

An avowed Republican (and a cochair of John McCain's presidential campaign), Chambers politely ignored my observation that Cisco's new regimen feels a bit like a socialist revolution. But Chambers did kick off the analyst conference with a slide that read, collaboration: 'co-labor'; working toward a common goal. In language and spirit, Chambers's transformation is a mashup of radical isms and collectivist catchphrases. Of course, with analysts suggesting that the 'collaboration marketplace' could be a $34 billion opportunity, it's radicalism of a reassuringly capitalist bent...."

Followed by

Cisco Buys Flip Video Cam Maker for $590 Million: "By Kit Eaton
Cisco Systems, most commonly associated with business technology infrastructure and networking hardware, is using a chunk of its massive cash reserves to buy Pure Digital Technologies--creators of the highly popular Flip range of cheap digital video camcorders.

If it sounds like the two make strange bedfellows, then think again: Cisco's reasoning is sound. Pure Digital's Flip range was a surprising "revolution" in the photography market--representing a simple, low-end re-think of video tech in light of the popularity of online videos through YouTube and its ilk. The company sold 1.5 million of the "one-button" camcorders in just 18 months, earning a 2008 revenue of 150 million, and that pushed it to thenumber seven slot on our list of the 50 most innovative companies [0].

Cisco, which jumped from #37 to #5 on our list of the 50 Most Innovative Companies this year [0], says Pure Digital has now sold over two million of its cameras in the U.S. and that success is why the company is today ponying-up $590 million to purchase all of Pure Digital's privately-held shares. A further $15 million is being spent on "retention-based incentives" to employees who stay at Pure--a clear indication that Cisco appreciates the company's success, and a hint of some remaining autonomy. After all, Cisco is new in the digital camera market. Which is why Pure is a clever purchase: The main product is novel and doing well in a cluttered marketplace, and it gives Cisco direct access to a bigger share of the consumer electronics arena.

And that's exactly the plan it seems. As Cisco's senior VP of Corporate Development and Consumer groups, Ned Hooper, said in a stunning example of corp-speak: "This acquisition will take Cisco's consumer business to the next level..." And Pure is likely to be just one of a number of acquisitions as Cisco's reported to have $29 billion in cash on its books, which is a powerful fighting fund Cisco says it's keen to spend on expansion. Expect to see more of the company's stick-like Golden Gate logo on your consumer electronics in the coming year or two..."

Two years later, the story reverses...

Chambers: Cisco has lost credibility - 06 Apr 2011 - CRN UK News: "John Chambers will make a series of changes at Cisco after admitting in a candid email to staff that the networking giant has lost its way.
In an extraordinary 1,473-word missive, Cisco's chief executive confessed the $40bn vendor had been slow to make decisions and had lost accountability.
'Bottom line, we have lost some of the credibility that is foundational to Cisco's success - and we must earn it back,' he said...."

Followed by the Flip-Flip

Cisco to Close Flip Video-Camera Business as Part of Consumer-Unit Revamp - Bloomberg: "Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), the world’s biggest maker of networking equipment, will close its Flip video-camera unit and cut about 550 jobs as it reorganizes its consumer businesses.

Pretax costs from the revamp won’t likely top $300 million during the third and fourth quarters of fiscal 2011, San Jose, California-based Cisco said today in a statement. Cisco will realign its remaining consumer business to support core routing, switching and services, collaboration, architectures and videos..."

FT.com / Technology - Cisco to close Flip video camera arm: "...At the time, the lightweight video camera was hailed by Cisco as an important part of its plan to create “end-to-end” networks that involve it capturing as well as transmitting video. However, Wall Street was never convinced of the need to sell consumer gadgets and the once hot Flip device has since been overtaken by video recorders embedded in smartphones like the iPhone..."

Crisis of thought

Many articles, like the one below, talk about the jobless and those who have given up looking for a job and are drawing unemployment benefits. If there are many people in this group, how are they voting? The Tea Party dominated RFepublicans want to cut these benefits, while the S&P 500 firms are drowning in cash. How did the Republicans get elected?

The Hidden Job Crisis for American Men - BusinessWeek: "Behind the headlines, though, statistics on jobs are far less encouraging. Yes, job growth has picked up somewhat. Yet an equally important reason for the lower jobless rate is that many people, men in particular, have simply given up looking for work and are no longer counted among the unemployed. Some sit at home. Some have become homeless. Rather than paying taxes on labor income, they are drawing government benefits, or relying on family and friends for support.

Economists are concerned that the recovery will extend an ominous trend of disengagement for male workers that stretches back six decades. The share of American men aged 16 to 64 who are employed has fallen in a sawtooth pattern, from nearly 85 percent in the early 1950s to less than 65 percent now. As the chart above shows, the rate falls steeply in recessions and does not get back to its previous high in recoveries. (Women's employment-to-population ratio has trended higher over the years.)"

India plays fiddler while the Ozone layers get thinner

Ozone layer faces record 40% loss over Arctic - The Economic Times: "GENEVA: The protective ozone layer in the Arctic that keeps out the sun's most damaging rays - ultraviolet radiation - has thinned about 40% this winter, a record drop, the UN weather agency said Tuesday.

The Arctic's damaged stratospheric ozone layer isn't the best known 'ozone hole' - that would be Antarctica's, which forms when sunlight returns in spring there each year. But the Arctic's situation is due to similar causes: ozone-munching compounds in air pollutants that are chemically triggered by a combination of extremely cold temperatures and sunlight..."

India won't succumb to pressure for cutting greenhouse gas - The Economic Times: "succumb to international pressure on any legally-binding commitments to reduce carbon emission and re-position itself diplomatically as a constructive problem-solver.

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh said India should negotiate from its position of strength and take a leadership role on the issue instead of being 'lectured' by the West as it is 'moving along a low carbon growth path'."

Doing business the JnJ Capitalist Way

Johnson & Johnson fined for bribing doctors - Yahoo! News: "US authorities fined cosmetics and drugs giant Johnson & Johnson $70 million on Friday for bribing doctors in Europe and paying kickbacks for contracts under a UN relief program in Iraq.
The Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission said since 1998 the firm had paid doctors and hospital administrators in Greece, Poland and Romania for contracts and to promote its drugs and medical devices.

Johnson & Johnson also paid kickbacks between 2000-2003 for 19 contracts under the UN Oil for Food Program, which provided humanitarian supplies to Iraqis while the country, still ruled by Saddam Hussein.

The firm, the 15th largest US company by market capitalization, agreed to pay US authorities $70 million to settle the charges, including $48.6 million to the SEC and $21.4 million to the Justice Department.

US prosecutor Mythili Raman that the company had "cooperated extensively" with the investigation.

"The message ... is plain -- any competitive advantage gained through corruption is a mirage," said SEC enforcement director Robert Khuzami.

"J&J chose profit margins over compliance with the law by acquiring a private company for the purpose of paying bribes, and using sham contracts, offshore companies, and slush funds to cover its tracks."

The charges detailed that J&J subsidiaries Cilag AG International and Janssen Pharaceutica made $858,000 dollars in payoffs to Saddam Hussein's government to win $9.0 million in contracts under the deeply corrupted Oil for Food Program.

"The kickbacks were concealed from the United Nations by inflating Janssen and Cilag's contract prices by 10 percent," they said.

The SEC said J&J was under a related investigation by Britain's Serious Fraud Office and that a resolution was also expected..."

Green thinking

Chicago entertainment venues strive toward green practices - chicagotribune.com: "The Art Institute of Chicago, for example, was one of the first major institutions to embrace energy conservation via solar panels. Twenty years back, the (at that time) century-old building boasted what was then the largest solar array in the Midwest. Incidentally, when plans for the Modern Wing began taking shape a dozen years ago, sustainability was paramount: $19 million (of the total project cost of $294 million) was invested in energy-efficient and renewable features, such as the building's climate-controlled facade, intuitive natural-light filtration system and green housekeeping practices.
For older construction, some green practices are virtually impossible. The 18-month-old Lincoln Hall, for example, is housed in a hundred-year-old building, which co-owner Chris Schuba lamented wouldn't support a green roof.

"We even looked into LEED certification," Schuba said by phone last week, adding that the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design green-building certification system is a "ghastly process" that was beyond his budget for the music venue. Instead, Schuba and co-owner/brother Mike invested in as many ecologically responsible details as they could afford: an energy-efficient HVAC system, electric hand dryers to avoid unnecessary paper waste, and the installation of an extensive tap system for draft beers to account for 80 percent of beer served, drastically reducing bottle waste.

"At Schubas, we used to fill three to four Dumpsters with glass bottles every week," Schuba said of his flagship venue, explaining that sorting green glass from brown or clear would be a full-time job.

Though we'll continue to shake our heads that commingled glass recycling isn't universal, there's a smidgeon of solace knowing that next time we order a beer, going with draft means one less bottle that may or may not find its way into recycling.

These are small gestures. But they add up, which is why we've put together a handful of arts, culture and entertainment itineraries you can feel good about — on Earth Day, or any other day or night."

Affordable Luxury, Satyam Style...

The Hindu : Life & Style / Metroplus : Reddy Made In Chennai: "Being customer-centric

That's when he got hooked. “It was interesting because everything was customer-centric. The movie experience was so mediocre then that doing a few things right made a big difference. Our first steps were the basics: cleaner toilets, better trained staff. Then we improved the sound system… By 2001, what we were doing showed economic benefits. I realised I could get people to defer the demolition. We gradually began changing the existing structure.”

Despite drawing a steady three million customers a year, Sathyam — now a 100-crore company — always seems to be in a breathless race with itself. Reinvention at the flagship building never ceases. Even at brand-new Escape, frills are added incessantly. Touch screens to order tickets, monster Macs to browse, a spa… Meanwhile there's talk of iPod docks on seats and a new luxury lounge.

“The drive is to be at the cutting edge. For top-of-the-mind recall we have to do things phenomenally different from someone else,” says Kiran, adding their biggest challenge was to change mindsets. “We were perceived as ‘local' and the perception was that the national chains would be better.” Though he's gracious about the competition, he states. “We work from a different position: to do the best we can do.”

His theory is that the cinema is about more than just the movie. “It's a very democratic space,” he states, explaining how it's unique since it draws people from very varied backgrounds. “We want them to come into a space they would not normally experience in everyday life... No matter how many times people go for movies — theatre's a little luxury. Our challenge is, how do you make something low-priced luxurious?”..."

Double Digits of green

Double-digit pay hikes for techies this year - The Times of India: "Fresher salaries/stipends are already up by 10% to 15% compared to last year. Hires from premier educational institutions have seen 15% to 20% increases this year. Recruiters say the country's top tech firms - TCS, Wipro, Infosys, HCL and Cognizant - are considering a 10% to 15% average hike this year. A senior official at Infosys said the company is looking at a pay hike in June and that it should be in the range of 10% to 12%.

Wipro has just started its appraisal process. An e-mail to employees on Wednesday said the process would be completed by May. Increments are expected to be announced in June-July, and will be effective June 1. Sources in the company said increments would be in the 12-15% range, against 8-12% last year.

C Mahalingam, senior V-P and HR head in Symphony Services, said the situation had improved significantly for IT companies. "Markets are warming up. Customer rates are improving. There is also tension in the talent demand-supply scenario. All these will have a positive impact on increments this year,'' he said.

Roy Joseph, head of HR in the technology product development and sourcing of Mahindra & Mahindra, said that with the economy rebounding quicker that expected, there is additional pressure on retaining the best talent. "There is limited supply of quality talent. That means a scramble for good people. Ultimately, what prompts good talent to remain where they are is the remuneration.''

Mahalingam said that people with 3-8 years of experience have become particularly hot property. That's because business has increased rapidly and has not given enough time for companies to train freshers to deal with these orders. However, increments will remain lower than what they were in the years immediately preceding the global recession. Companies are cautious about the global economic outlook, given the sluggish recoveries in western markets and the problems in Japan and West Asia. Salary hikes this year will reflect that caution. "

Green Students

Student group brings the green to Wheaton school — Wheaton news, photos and events — TribLocal.com: "Wednesday officially marked the opening of District 200’s first-ever cafeteria salad bar, which was made possible by a grant through the Great American Salad Project. It comes at no additional cost, with funds from the grant used to cover the equipment.

Food service provider Aramark also agreed to partner in the project and provide the salad as a healthier lunch alternative, said District 200 spokeswoman Erica Foreman.

The idea to include the buffet of greens originated by student advisory group the Chow Hounds, with students looking to mix up the cafeteria offerings with some healthier food options."

Green-Belt MBA

MBA course: 'blind pursuit of profit is destroying the planet' | Leo Hickman | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "Let's play a little game. Please read the following quote and try to guess who said it:

Lies, cheat, deceit, distortion, hype, and a blind pursuit of profit have poisoned the business world. The price of this has been the destruction of the planet, its ecosystems and the alienation of humans from their soul and genuine inner needs. Pollution, contamination, climate change, poverty, rising sea level, unemployment, financial crisis, social unrest, war, and a general lack of trust has taken over as a result.

Strong stuff. I'm fairly confident that you currently have the image of an angry environmental campaigner in your head. Or, perhaps, a far-left politician waving their fist at the world's multiple injustices.

Well, these are both wrong: the right answer is these words come from the press release of a new MBA course now being offered at Marbella University in southern Spain. Yes, an MBA course: that rarefied habitat that has long been the butt of jokes due to the air of self-importance and unworldliness nurtured within. (The same is often said of the environmental movement, of course!)

Perhaps this common perception is unfair, but MBA courses are not usually associated with environmental tub-thumping. Rather, they are often seen as little more than finishing schools for the "corporate leaders" who will go on to pillage the earth in the name of "shareholder dividends" and "quarterly results". So it comes as something of a shock to see an MBA course being advertised in such a way.

Marbella University, the only English-speaking university in southern Spain, was founded in 2009 and, in addition to its MBA, offers courses on communication & public relations, tourism, journalism and psychology. But, for our purposes, it is the "Green MBA" that catches the eye.

For those still rubbing their eyes in amazement, here's some more from the press release:

The world needs new managers and CEOs; new MBAs. The state of humanity and the planet clearly shows: politics has failed, corporations have failed, and most disturbingly even education has failed.
Humanity and the world need new leaders and experts to resolve the global problems. The MBA programs at Marbella University entail a vanguard approach to international business with a strong focus on "human factors" and the complexity of today's global business world…
In the words of the President of Marbella University: "The state of humanity and the planet clearly shows: most Masters programs are unusable, elitist, soulless products, made by people that don't understand anything about human beings and the values of being human!"
Dr Schellhammer adds: "All solutions start with a vanguard education, based on a new understanding of humans and life."

Look at the "Green MBA" course description and you can see that issues such as population growth, climate change and "limited resources and raw materials" are all prominently discussed – even if there is still a tendency to slip effortlessly into management speak: "The business world must become aware of such developments and use all vanguard tools to efficiently navigate in such a challenging business environment." (I'm curious: can business executives get belts to strap around their waists to hold all their vanguard tools?)

Look at the "Green MBA" course description and you can see that issues such as population growth, climate change and "limited resources and raw materials" are all prominently discussed – even if there is still a tendency to slip effortlessly into management speak: "The business world must become aware of such developments and use all vanguard tools to efficiently navigate in such a challenging business environment." (I'm curious: can business executives get belts to strap around their waists to hold all their vanguard tools?)

Is this evidence of enlightenment and hope in the world of big business? Or a desperate attempt by a new university to court attention in the super competitive world of MBA courses? And for those who have actually completed an MBA: how often did these issues ever get discussed on your own course?"

Cracking Up at 65% of rated cycles

Boeing Says It Didn’t Expect Cracks in 737s So Soon - NYTimes.com: "A Boeing engineer said Tuesday that the company had projected a longer lifespan for the skin and the supporting joints of its older 737 jetliners and was surprised that serious cracks developed on one Southwest Airlines plane last Friday.

Paul Richter, a chief engineer for the older Boeing 737 models, said the plane maker had expected the parts to last 60,000 cycles of takeoffs and landings before cracks might form, while the jet that developed the hole on Friday had only 39,000 cycles. Southwest had done nothing wrong in maintaining the plane, Mr. Richter said."

Cheerleading, Indian style

'Cheerleaders should be properly dressed' - The Times of India: "JAIPUR: District collector Navin Mahajan has made it clear to the Rajasthan Royals that the cheerleaders should be properly dressed.

Mahajan said, 'There should be no cheerleaders in skimpy outfits. The dress of the cheerleaders should gel with the Rajasthani culture.'

Last year, too during the IPL matches, the state government had directed the pom-pom girls to wear slacks."

Exporting Death, second hand

US death row injection comes from Mumbai firm - The Times of India: "Correctional services in the US are buying sodium thiopental from a little-known firm in Borivli (West) for use in lethal injections to execute death sentences.

Kayem Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd, at Marian Colony, shipped a 500-gram consignment of the yellow powder, packed in a hefty 25-kg strongbox, on December 8, 2010, to the Nebraska department of correctional services. Sodium thiopental is generally used along with pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride to create a cocktail with which several states in the US carry out the death sentence by lethal injection. In February this year, Kayem sold another consignment to the South Dakota department of corrections. Executions are yet to be carried out by Nebraska or South Dakota with the drug purchased from Kayem...."

E-QED: Ensuring Quality in EDucation

Unpaid Interns, Complicit Colleges - NYTimes.com: "Colleges and universities have become cheerleaders and enablers of the unpaid internship boom, failing to inform young people of their rights or protect them from the miserly calculus of employers. In hundreds of interviews with interns over the past three years, I found dejected students resigned to working unpaid for summers, semesters and even entire academic years — and, increasingly, to paying for the privilege.

...

What makes WNBC — whose parent company, General Electric, is valued at more than $200 billion — think it can get away with this? In Mr. Batson’s case, a letter from Colgate, certifying that he was receiving credit for doing the internship. (Now 24, he gave up on journalism and is at a technology start-up. NBC calls its internship program “an important recruiting tool.”)

The uncritical internship fever on college campuses — not to mention the exploitation of graduate student instructors, adjunct faculty members and support staff — is symptomatic of a broader malaise. Far from being the liberal, pro-labor bastions of popular image, universities are often blind to the realities of work in contemporary America.

In politics, film, fashion, journalism and book publishing, unpaid internships are seen as a way to break in. (The New York Times has paid and unpaid interns.) But the phenomenon goes beyond fields seen as glamorous...

..

Three-quarters of the 10 million students enrolled in America’s four-year colleges and universities will work as interns at least once before graduating, according to the College Employment Research Institute. Between one-third and half will get no compensation for their efforts, a study by the research firm Intern Bridge found. Unpaid interns also lack protection from laws prohibiting racial discrimination and sexual harassment.

The United States Department of Labor says an intern at a for-profit company may work without pay only when the program is similar to that offered in a vocational school, benefits the student, does not displace a regular employee and does not entitle the student to a job; in addition, the employer must derive “no immediate advantage” from the student’s work and both sides must agree that the student is not entitled to wages.

Employers and their lawyers appear to believe that unpaid interns who get academic credit meet those criteria, but the law seems murky; the Labor Department has said that “academic credit alone does not guarantee that the employer is in compliance.”

Fearing a crackdown by regulators, some colleges are asking the government, in essence, to look the other way. In a letter last year, 13 university presidents told the Labor Department, “While we share your concerns about the potential for exploitation, our institutions take great pains to ensure students are placed in secure and productive environments that further their education.”

Far from resisting the exploitation of their students, colleges have made academic credit a commodity. Just look at Menlo College, a business-focused college in northern California, which sold credits to a business called Dream Careers. Menlo grossed $50,000 from the arrangement in 2008, while Dream Careers sold Menlo-accredited internships for as much as $9,500.

To meet the credit requirement of their employers, some interns have essentially had to pay to work for free: shelling out $2,700 to the University of Pennsylvania in the case of an intern at NBC Universal and $1,600 to New York University by an intern at “The Daily Show,” to cite two examples from news reports.

Charging students tuition to work in unpaid positions might be justifiable in some cases — if the college plays a central role in securing the internship and making it a substantive academic experience. But more often, internships are a cheap way for universities to provide credit — cheaper than paying for faculty members, classrooms and equipment.

A survey of more than 700 colleges by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that 95 percent allowed the posting of unpaid internships in campus career centers and on college Web sites. And of those colleges, only 30 percent required that their students obtain academic credit for those unpaid internships; the rest, evidently, were willing to overlook potential violations of labor law...Campus career centers report being swamped; advisers I spoke to flatly denied being able to “monitor and reassess” all placements or even postings, as the 13 university presidents claim to do — their ability to visit students’ workplaces, for instance, is almost nil. They described feeling caught between the demands of employers and interns, and scrambling to make accommodations: issuing vague letters of support for interns to show employers; offering sketchy “internship transcript notations” or “internship certificates”; and even handing out “0.0 credit” — a mysterious work-around by which credit both is and isn’t issued.

Is there a better way? Cooperative education, in which students alternate between tightly integrated classroom time and paid work experience, represents a humane and pragmatic model.

Colleges shouldn’t publicize unpaid internships at for-profit companies. They should discourage internship requirements for graduation — common practice in communications, psychology, social work and criminology. They should stop charging students to work without pay — and ensure that the currency of academic credit, already cheapened by internships, doesn’t lose all its value.

To be sure, the unpaid internship is only part of a phenomenon that includes the growing numbers of temps, freelancers, adjuncts, self-employed “entrepreneurs” and other low-wage or precariously employed workers who live gig by gig. The academy should critique, not amplify, those trends."